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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22703917">Escapism</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/HashtagLEH/pseuds/HashtagLEH'>HashtagLEH</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Tactics From the Isle (And How They Carry Over Into Auradon) [8]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Descendants (Disney Movies), The Isle of the Lost Series - Melissa de la Cruz</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Chad Charming Being an Asshole, F/F, F/M, Fae Mal (Disney), Isle of the Lost (Disney) is a Terrible Place, M/M, Multi, Nice Audrey Rose (Disney), Not Canon Compliant, Protective Ben (Disney: Descendants), Protective Carlos de Vil, Protective Evie (Disney), Protective Jay (Disney), Protective Mal (Disney), Racism, United States of Auradon (Disney), United States of Auradon (Disney) Is Not Perfect, d1 rewrite, garden party, racism against fairies</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 12:22:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,959</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22703917</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/HashtagLEH/pseuds/HashtagLEH</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Garden Party was, in a word, disastrous.</p><p>*</p><p>Mal snorted. “We attacked a queen and a prince, and used magic to get away.”</p><p>“We <em>can’t </em>go back,” Carlos whispered, looking stricken. “Especially not without anything to show for it. Our parents will literally kill us this time!”</p><p>Jay snorted. “So, back to Plan A?” he drawled.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ben/Mal (Disney: Descendants), Evie/Jay/Mal/Carlos de Vil, Evie/Mal (Disney), Jay/Carlos de Vil, pre- Ben/Evie/Jay/Mal/Carlos de Vil</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Tactics From the Isle (And How They Carry Over Into Auradon) [8]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1600366</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>295</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Escapism</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>In case it's not clear already, I'm totally screwing with the timeline. This is important particularly in this chapter. They haven't potioned Ben yet, because their plan at this point was to make nice so that Isle Kids could be brought over more legally and they can avoid war. This chapter changes that, making their original plan the current working one. </p><p>Also, in this universe Audrey and Ben were never an item, so there's no breaking up going on and (spoiler) Chad is still just a jerk for no reason.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Garden Party was, in a word, disastrous.</p><p>They hadn’t been too crazy about the idea in the beginning. The four of them, joining everyone else in the school as well as those students’ parents? Not to mention that they didn’t even have their own parents – they would surely stick out. It sounded like a nightmare from the beginning.</p><p>But they had agreed to go, because they were supposed to be making nice with these people and it was clear that Ben really hoped that they would come. They also figured that they were already past the hard part when Fairy Godmother had sprung the surprise on them that they would be able to video conference their parents moments before they showed up on the TV screen, and they had all quickly lied to their parents about how they were doing well there, and maybe one day they could see them again but they weren’t totally sure when, at that point. It had been nerve-wracking for all of them as they expected at any moment for one of them to catch them in their lies or notice that they weren’t going along with the plan their parents had given them. But luckily, they had become too caught up in their own argument and Mal could shut it off before anything was given away, all of them wordlessly affecting a visage of being upset at their parents not caring about them specifically.</p><p>(They had all long since given up on hoping for more from their parents and were, by this point, indifferent to the actions of their parents. But it was easy to play into Fairy Godmother’s expectations of how they would act, so it provided an easy way out from having to hide their plan from their parents any longer.)</p><p>But with that out of the way, they figured, what the hell. Auradonians weren’t going to try anything. Sure, it may be uncomfortable, but it would probably be worse if they <em>didn’t </em>go – would give the impression that they were only grudgingly in Auradon, and they figured it was about time they pretended to slowly be okay with being there.</p><p>Besides, Ben had promised that he would stick with them, and they figured he was pretty trustworthy. Might even be considered a friend – or at least an ally. After all, he had done everything he could to make them comfortable, tried to help them with anything they asked for. He had even been able to manage to convince Fairy Godmother that they could bend the rules a little bit as far as dorm rooms went and now all four of them were together again. The fact that he was the future king didn’t hurt, either – surely no one would try messing with them with him right there.</p><p>At least, that’s what they’d <em>thought</em>.</p><p>After Mal and Audrey had straightened things out between each other, Mal had naïvely assumed that that would translate to her family as well. After all, where else would Audrey have learned to be so forgiving, if not for her parents and grandparents teaching her?</p><p>She hadn’t really thought anything of the old woman who started talking with her. She’d been talking with lots of strangers without either of them exchanging names – people just figured she was another student. Mal wanted to laugh at that, because her hair was <em>purple</em>, and what Auradonian had purple hair? Actually, they probably all thought that it was fake, just dyed to look that way.</p><p>But, even if she <em>had </em>known who the woman was, she wouldn’t have presumed that she would act the way she did. She would have thought her to be more like Audrey.</p><p>Even still, she was a child of the Isle, and she knew to be wary. Had she known who the woman was, she would have avoided her at least until she knew for <em>sure </em>what to expect.</p><p>Auradon had made her less watchful, she scolded herself. She knew that she couldn’t be complacent – not <em>anywhere</em>. Just because no one here would try to jump her and rob her didn’t mean that they weren’t more than willing to attack her and her friends in other ways.</p><p>And now, no one was stopping Queen Leah as she clearly geared up to berate Mal, for something that her mother had done <em>decades </em>ago. They were just…<em>watching</em>, and Mal had never felt so exposed as she did now.</p><p>“Grammy, it’s okay,” Audrey said, stepping forward from where she had been chatting with Chad. “This is Mal, Maleficent’s daughter. Maleficent is still on the Isle.”</p><p>“Don’t you remember my Proclamation to give the new generation a chance?” Ben voiced from behind Mal, and a moment later his hand was lightly touching her back in a familiar gesture that Mal forced herself not to shy away from, reminding herself that affection was not seen as a weakness in Auradon.</p><p>“A chance to what, Ben?” Leah demanded, glaring over at Mal. “Destroy us?”</p><p>“Grammy…” Audrey tried saying, and Leah turned to her granddaughter.</p><p>“Audrey, I am frankly shocked that you would take her side in this!” she exclaimed. “Although perhaps it should be inevitable – <em>you </em>weren’t there, you don’t remember. But everyone else should!” she looked around at the other assembled parents and grandparents, clearly looking for support. “The poison apples. The <em>spells</em>.” Fairy Godmother had moved forward to take her hand, nodding along with her but more like she was trying to calm her down than that she agreed with what the woman was saying. At least, Mal hoped so.</p><p>“Spells,” Leah repeated, looking back at Mal and glaring again. “My daughter was raised by <em>fairies</em>, because of <em>your </em>mother’s curse.”</p><p>Mal felt her core go hot at that, and a moment later she recognized that what she was feeling wasn’t shame – it was <em>anger</em>. She knew that the older generation could be racist, but this was just ridiculous, and no one was saying <em>anything </em>in defense of fairies.</p><p>“And you know who <em>I </em>was raised by?” Mal snarled, cutting off whatever Leah was going to say next. The woman was immediately affronted, but Mal ignored it and went on, “I was <em>also </em>raised by a fairy, because of <em>your </em>people’s curse. But no one is upset about <em>that</em>, are they?” Her gaze swept over the assembled crowd, all of whom looked more upset on Leah’s behalf than hers, and she snorted derisively. “At least <em>your </em>daughter grew up with love. You think <em>Villains </em>actually love their kids? <em>Grow up</em>. Fairies are <em>far </em>from the worst thing your <em>precious</em> Sleeping Beauty could have been raised by.”</p><p>“Mal, let’s go,” Evie’s voice said softly behind her, as another hand touched her arm. This one was much more comforting though, because Mal could always trust that Evie had her back.</p><p>“You mustn’t trust her,” Leah said, like she hadn’t heard anything that Mal had just said, and Mal rolled her eyes.</p><p>“Yeah, get on out of here,” Chad said, stepping up beside the old woman and glaring at Mal and Evie. “Stay away from us.”</p><p>“Don’t do this, Chad,” Ben said, stepping forward in their defense, and Chad looked startled by it.</p><p>“What?” he blinked at him, looking aghast. “She said it herself, Ben – they were raised by their <em>parents</em>. What do you think Villains teach their kids, huh? Kindness? Fair play? No way. You think these kids <em>don’t </em>have a plan to take over Auradon? Is it a coincidence that they’ve attached themselves to <em>you</em>, and no one else?”</p><p>“Maybe because <em>he’s</em> been the one fighting for us the <em>most</em>,” Carlos muttered, but it went unheard by any but the four of them and Ben. Mal had noticed them drawing closer to their group, but she hadn’t realized until Carlos had spoken just how close they were. She felt more comforted with her gang around her, and reached back to take Jay’s hand as he stepped up close behind her.</p><p>“Mirror, mirror, in my hand,” Evie said, stepping forward, “Who’s the biggest <em>jerk </em>in the land?”</p><p>The other three knew what she was doing – diverting attention away from Chad’s remark about their plans, so that people didn’t ponder on it too much. And it immediately worked, because when Evie pointed her mother’s mirror at the pompous prince, he immediately scoffed and shoved her hand away.</p><p>“Come on,” he said derisively, and he wasn’t going to do anything else, but the damage had already been done.</p><p>They were all high strung already with all eyes on them as they were verbally attacked, and so when Chad made it more physical, Jay was immediately stepping away from Mal, leaping to the defense of Evie before anyone could blink. His hand was wrapped around Chad’s suit jacket, fist raised to lay into the prince’s face, and everything was in a clamor as people cried out in shock or in defense of either side.</p><p>Evie was the one to save the day, pulling a perfume bottle from her purse that had a new concoction in it that she’d been working on in Chemistry that Mal had added her own special potion effect to to reach the desired effect. It hadn’t been tested yet, but she moved past Jay to spray it in Chad’s face anyway, and he was immediately going down, eyes fluttering closed as both science and magic worked to knock him out cold.</p><p>Jay seemed to come back to himself at this evidence that Evie was alright and that Chad was no longer a threat, but Ben was already hauling Jay away, preventing a fight with anyone else. Jay allowed himself to be dragged, although with Ben using his inherited beast strength even Jay probably wouldn’t have been able to win.</p><p>“Evie did something to Chad!” someone called – Mal couldn’t tell who, but noticed belatedly that Carlos had a vice grip on her arm, nails digging in, but she had so much adrenaline going through her that she didn’t even feel the pain of it.</p><p>“Check that he’s okay!” someone else said.</p><p>“Wake up!”</p><p>Mal looked up at Ben, who was looking lost as he looked between the Four who were congregating back together like magnets, and then at the scuffle that had been caused around Chad.</p><p>“Come on, guys,” Evie said, grabbing Mal’s hand. Carlos followed immediately behind them, though Jay lagged, tracking everyone and looking for any further threat. But they didn’t have time for that now.</p><p>“Jay!” Mal called sharply, and with a last glance, he was running after the rest of his gang, escaping the Auradonians before they could get their wits about them again.</p><p>“Guys!” Ben called, sounding desperate to make things right again right there.</p><p>But it was no use, because as Isle kids were so good at doing, they had already disappeared beyond reach.</p><p>***</p><p>“We’re probably going to be sent back,” Mal said stonily, saying what they were all thinking as they slowed their run to a brisk walk the closer they got to their dorm.</p><p>“We don’t know that,” Evie said softly, but she was wringing her hands together worriedly. “We didn’t do anything wrong.”</p><p>Mal snorted. “This is more than <em>manipulation</em>, Evie,” she said bluntly. “We attacked a queen and a prince, and used magic to get away.”</p><p>“We <em>can’t </em>go back,” Carlos whispered, looking stricken. “Especially not without anything to show for it. Our parents will literally kill us this time!”</p><p>Jay snorted. “So, back to Plan A?” he drawled.</p><p>“We need to get Ben on our good side first, so that he will refuse to send us back,” Mal said, already mentally plotting.</p><p>“How are we going to do that?” Carlos demanded. “He’s probably already making plans to ship us back.”</p><p>“We need a potion,” Mal murmured, and then snapped her fingers as she got an idea. “A love potion! It can only be broken with true love’s kiss, and he doesn’t actually love anyone. Not like that. Make him devoted to one of us, and we use that to insist that we stay here.”</p><p>“And while we’re here, we find a way to get the wand,” Jay added.</p><p>Mal nodded as they stepped into their dorm room, door closing behind them. She went to her bed, grabbing her spell book from her bag sitting beside her pillow.</p><p>“Who are we going to direct his love toward?” Evie questioned, sitting down carefully at her desk and fighting the urge to pick at her fingernails, a nervous habit that her mother had specifically tried drilling her of when she was little but still crept up from time to time when she was feeling particularly anxious.</p><p>“I think it should be Mal,” Carlos spoke up. Mal shot a look over at him, pausing in her flipping through the pages of her spell book.</p><p>“Why me?” she asked like she was offended.</p><p>“It makes the most sense,” Carlos said with a sigh. “You can’t tell me you haven’t noticed he likes you the most.”</p><p>“He looks at you the same way he looks at me,” Mal argued, eyes flickering with doubt.</p><p>“But Auradon would be less likely to believe that any love Ben has for Carlos is real,” Evie volunteered. “I looked up what Ben was talking about when he saw us – you know – and a lot of people in Auradon either don’t like or don’t believe in same-sex relationships.”</p><p>“You’ve <em>got </em>to be kidding me,” Jay said flatly, flicking his eyes briefly over to Carlos before looking back at Evie.</p><p>The girl shook her head. “I wish I was,” she said softly.</p><p>“Wonder what they would say about <em>four </em>people in a relationship,” Mal muttered, clenching her fingers around her spell book before she forced them to relax. They all carefully avoided acknowledging the remark, because their…<em>relationship</em>…was still not really an idea that was comfortable in those words. They just called it “gang activity” and “manipulation” as they always did, despite the fact that by now it wasn’t just Evie and Mal, and Jay and Carlos who “manipulated” each other but they all sort of…intermingled with each other now.</p><p>“Well, in that case,” Mal brought them back to the matter at hand, “I guess I do make the most sense.”</p><p>“Just…be careful, with that potion,” Evie said quietly, fiddling with the hem of her skirt. “He’ll want to do <em>everything </em>you ask of him, without question.”</p><p>Mal softened at the other girl’s concern, but didn’t acknowledge it directly. They all knew why she was worried about this in particular.</p><p>“We’re <em>only </em>doing this so that we won’t be kicked out,” Mal said firmly. “Anything else would be wrong.”</p><p>“Well, let’s hurry and get to it, then,” Jay urged. “We don’t know how much longer he’s going to be occupied with the people at that stupid Party.”</p><p>***</p><p>They found the kitchen easily enough, and whipped up the recipe as precisely as they could in what little time they had.</p><p>“Let’s put these chocolate bits in it,” Carlos suggested, emerging from the fridge. “Make them into those cookies so he won’t be so suspicious at taking something from an Isle kid.”</p><p>“Yeah, we got the reasoning, Carlos,” Mal snapped unintentionally. She cringed to herself at how it had come out and immediately gave Carlos a wry sort of smile to let him know that she wasn’t actually mad at him. She didn’t apologize though, because Isle kids never apologized. Carlos understood easily enough anyway and just wordlessly tossed the chocolate bits into the bowl Mal was mixing together.</p><p>“Alright,” Mal whooshed out a breath as she looked down at the recipe. “Last thing we need, it says one tear of human sadness. And, I never cry.”</p><p>“Well, <em>one </em>of us is going to have to be able to manage it,” Jay said obviously. “Not it.”</p><p>“I can’t cry,” was all Carlos said, but the look that must have been in his eyes told them all that it was more than that – that it would be traumatic to even try. None of them pushed it.</p><p>“Oh my gosh, you guys,” Evie sighed, and bumped Mal gently with her hip to get her to move. “I can do this.”</p><p>“I’ve never seen you cry,” Jay said, blinking.</p><p>Evie rolled her eyes. “It doesn’t mean I <em>can’t</em>. I just have to…” she trailed off, grabbing the bowl before a look of concentration appeared on her face, scrunching her eyes shut to ostensibly be better able to focus.</p><p>They all remained silent, watching with baited breath and all equally uncertain whether the girl would be able to manage it.</p><p>After a few moments, a look of pain went across Evie’s face, and Mal almost stopped her, alarmed that she might be in actual, physical pain, before she realized that Evie needed to bring up a tear of sadness, and therefore needed to bring herself to genuine sorrow. She realized that Evie was thinking of something that made her sad, and she immediately wanted to soothe it away, to smooth that wrinkle in Evie’s brow that betrayed her pain, but she knew that they needed to be able to do this, and quickly.</p><p>Another few moments, with the expression of sorrow gradually increasing, Evie’s face finally softened and a single tear slipped from her left eye. It wasn’t large, hardly there at all, and thus didn’t have the weight to drag itself down her face on its own.</p><p>It didn’t matter. Mal reached out, and gently swiped her finger under Evie’s eye to catch the tear before she flicked her finger into the bowl. Evie set the bowl back on the counter, opening her eyes, and when Mal saw the pain swirling inside them it hurt something inside her, too.</p><p>“What’d you think about?” Jay asked, voice quiet but unable to hold back his curiosity. Carlos elbowed him chastisingly, but he was watching her too, curious in spite of himself.</p><p>Evie blinked, once, and then her expression went smooth, betraying nothing as her eyes shuttered closed from within.</p><p>“It doesn’t matter,” she said lightly. “It’ll work for the potion.”</p><p>Mal didn’t care right then that she was technically not trying to get anything from Evie – all that was on her mind was comfort, and she knew immediately how to do that. She reached out, threading her fingers in the hair at the base of Evie’s neck, before pulling her close to her and pressing her mouth to the other girl’s. Evie sighed into the kiss and accepted it willingly, hand automatically going to Mal’s waist.</p><p>A moment later, Mal pulled back, turning back to the bowl of what was now the complete cookie dough recipe, giving it a last stir to make sure everything was all mixed together.</p><p>“Alright,” she said easily as though nothing had just happened. “Boys, cookie sheet. Evie, oven. Let’s get these cookies scooped out.”</p><p>***</p><p>A mere thirty minutes later, there was a knock on the kitchen door just as they were pulling the tray of cookies from the oven. They were all immediately at attention, and even when the door opened and Ben himself poked his head in, none of them relaxed in the slightest. If anything, they tensed further, and looked to Mal instinctively.</p><p>“I smelled the cookies,” were Ben’s first words, as he stepped in and closed the door behind him, looking awkward. “I figured no one else would be making cookies because everyone else is outside.”</p><p>None of them said anything, and Mal went to the tray, plating up the cookies so they could cool off all the more quickly.</p><p>“I didn’t expect that you guys would use baking as an escapism,” Ben laughed a little awkwardly, trying to get them to loosen up a little. “Although it’s not a bad method, I suppose. Better than other things you could be doing.”</p><p>“What, like plotting revenge?” Mal said dryly, shooting him a look as she turned back around, setting the cookies on the counter and leaning against it, hands gripping the edge of it at her sides.</p><p>“That’s not what I meant,” Ben hastened to say, putting up his hands to show he meant no harm. “I just…well, that’s kind of why I came looking for you. Partly. I wanted to apologize for – well, everything that happened out there.” He rubbed the back of his neck.</p><p>“Don’t worry about it,” Mal said abruptly, not wanting him to get to the part where he had to apologize about the pressure he was facing to toss them back to the Isle, and that he was bowing to said pressure. Love potions couldn’t fix everything, after all, and he might notice he was potioned if he knew he’d already told them they had to leave and then suddenly changed his mind after eating something they’d given him.</p><p>“No, it really wasn’t right,” Ben said earnestly, taking a step closer but stopping when they all involuntarily took a step back, like they were afraid of him. Sorrow flickered across his face, and he clasped his hands in front of him and said, “You guys didn’t ask for all of…<em>this</em>, and you shouldn’t have to put up with it.”</p><p>“Really, Ben, it’s fine,” Mal said bluntly. “We’re Isle kids – we should’ve expected it.”</p><p>“I still wanted to apologize…” Ben started, but Mal cut him off by shoving the plate of cookies his direction, stepping around the counter to be closer to him.</p><p>“Here,” she said shortly. “We <em>really </em>don’t mind. Take a damn cookie as proof.”</p><p>“No, I don’t think there’s really enough for me,” Ben said quickly. “I mean, you guys made them for a reason, and there’s only a few there – I don’t want to take them from you.”</p><p>“You’re not taking them, we’re offering,” Evie said calmly, much more easily than Mal. “You’ve been the only real friend to stick by us – we don’t mind sharing.”</p><p>“Guys, it would make sense that he wouldn’t trust Villains’ kids – don’t force him,” Jay snorted. “I mean, that’s probably the first thing they learn as kids, right? Don’t accept anything a child of a Villain offers you.”</p><p>Ben looked gradually more alarmed as the other boy spoke, and immediately snatched a cookie from the plate before Mal could follow through on playing along with Jay’s words and turning away with the plate.</p><p>“No, I do!” he denied immediately, taking a bite out of the by now thankfully cooled cookie. “See? Totally trust you guys. Totally.”</p><p>Mal looked over at the other three, and then back at him. “So…how are they?”</p><p>“They’re good!” Ben said immediately, like he was still trying to reassure them that he trusted them. “They’re great. They’re amazing. I mean…they’re chewy, and you know, they… Is that walnuts?” Mal nodded faintly as he continued to ramble, all of them watching for any sign of the potion taking effect. “I love walnuts. And you know, the chocolate…” He blinked, beginning to look a little fuzzy as he cleared his throat. “The chocolate… Chocolate chips are…”</p><p>They could all see as the light of intelligence behind his eyes began to dim and focus in, and the effect had him looking a little out of it. He cleared his throat again, clearly aware that something was going on but slipping too fast to be alarmed at the fact.</p><p>He shook his head a little to himself. “I’m sorry, um… They’re warm and soft…and they’re sweet…” His eyes went back up to meet Mal’s, a look of devotion bleeding through the confused expression. They all glanced at each other, triumphant that their plan was clearly working. “Mal, have you always had those little golden flecks in your eyes?”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Let me know what you thought!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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